Google will hold the first Project Ara developer conference on April 15-16

When we first learned about Google’s plans to sell Motorola to Lenovo, many wondered exactly what this would mean for forward-thinking projects like Ara. Thankfully, we soon learned that Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects team would not be making the move to Lenovo, and instead would stay directly under Google’s leadership.

So what’s next for Project Ara? Recently Google has been pretty quiet about the project, but today they broke the silence. At the official Ara homepage, Google states that Project Ara is “designed exclusively for 6 billion people” and reveals that they are very dedicated to continuing its development. In fact, Google is preparing to release the Ara Module Developer’s Kit (MDK) online sometime in early April, which will give developers everything they need to design their own modules.

Furthermore, Google revealed that there will be three developer conferences for Ara this year, with the first one being held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California come April 15-16. The conference will walk people through the existing and planned features for the Ara platform, and willprovide a briefing on the alpha MDK. Google will even announce a series of prize challenges for module developers.

Only a limited number of folks can attend in person and there’s an $100 fee to get in. Obviously the conference is targeted towards developers, though Google will be streaming the even online and anyone is welcome to attend virtually. Those who register will even be able to ask questions online and more.

What do you think of Project Ara, excited for its future or do you feel that the idea is too impractical?